Health chief: State plans to OK medical marijuana

9:13 PM,
Feb. 3, 2014

Written by

Jon Campbell
Albany Bureau

New York's top health regulator said Monday the state plans to legalize medical marijuana within a year, but he offered no new timetable on when his controversial review of hydraulic fracturing will be finished.

Health Commissioner Nirav Shah testified for more than three hours during a Monday budget hearing, where he was grilled by lawmakers on the lack of transparency in his fracking review and for more specifics on Gov. Andrew Cuomo's medical marijuana plan.

Shah sat alone at a table in a legislative hearing room as he faced a barrage of queries from legislators, who questioned him on ...